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National Geographic : 1966 Jun
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National Geographic, June, 1966 I asked if a herder could save enough money to make six years in the hills worth it. "It's not like the days when the Basques could make big fortunes," Tony answered. "But it's pretty good money even now. The herder makes at least $230 a month, and also his board and room." Repeating an old sheepman's joke, my father said, "Well, it's a pretty big room." Tony rubbed his stubble of beard. "Yes, about a hundred miles across, I'd figure." "Well," said my father, "it's a chance these young Basques never would have had unless they came to America to herd sheep. With the money they save, they can go back to the Basque country, buy a little farm, marry, and start their own families." Tony grinned. "You can be sure they save their money, too. Take young Santiago, the sheep-camp cook, for example [page 874]. He hasn't been to town in months." In the lonely life of a sheepherder on the open range, it is only at shearing and ship ping times that the scattered bands of sheep come together. And so, supper that night in the narrow confines of the cookwagon was a rare reunion. The herders had bedded their sheep in the surrounding hills, taken time to shave and put on clean denims, and come down to the main camp for the evening meal. 886
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